The present invention relates to a system and method for cleaning and/or treating surface, preferably surfaces such as ceramic, steel, plastic, glass and/or painted surfaces such as the exterior surface of a vehicle.
Products for cleaning hard surfaces are widely available on the market. These products are used for two purposes, the first being to clean soil from the surface and the second being to leave the surface with an aesthetically pleasing finish e.g. spot-free or shiny. However, products available on the market often require rinsing with water after use. Typically when the water dries from the surface water-marks, smears or spots are left behind. These water-marks, it is believed may be due to the evaporation of water from the surface leaving behind deposits of minerals which were present as dissolved solids in the water, for example calcium, magnesium and sodium ions and salts thereof or may be deposits of water-carried soils, or even remnants from a cleaning product, for example soap scum. This problem is often exacerbated by some cleaning compositions which modify the surface during the cleaning process in such a way that after rinsing, water forms discrete droplets or beads on the surface instead of draining off. These droplets or beads dry to leave consumer noticeable spots or marks known as water-marks. This problem is particularly apparent when cleaning ceramic, steel, plastic, glass or painted surfaces. A means of solving this problem, known in the art is to dry the water from the surface using a cloth or chamois before the water-marks form. However, this drying process is time consuming and requires considerable physical effort.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,980 (Blue Coral) describes a composition for cleaning cars which is described to eliminate the problem of water-marks. The composition described comprises a surfactant package comprising a silicone-based surfactant and a polymer which is capable of bonding to a surface to make it hydrophilic. However, it is believed that the polymers described in this document may tend to be removed from the surface during rinsing of the product from the surface. Hence since the surface hydrophilicity is allegedly provided by the composition as described in the patent and the composition may be removed from the surface after the first rinse, the alleged hydrophilicity is also removed. The result is that the benefit provided by the composition is lost when the surface is rinsed.
PCT Publication WO 97/48927 is directed to a cleaning composition, method, and apparatus for cleaning exterior windows. This publication states that it discloses a no scrub/no wipe method for cleaning exterior windows without filming or spotting. A spray gun comprising separate chambers for a cleaning composition and an ion exchange resin is disclosed. The method involves spraying a cleaning composition on the window surface, preparing purified rinse water by passing the rinse water through the ion exchange resin and rinsing the window surface with the purified rinse water.
In addition to cleaning such surfaces, it is desirable to leave these surfaces with a clean finish that lasts for a reasonable period of time. Even though such surfaces are left with a spot-free finish, when the surfaces are contacted with water, such as rainwater, in the case of surfaces exposed to outside elements, or tap water for interior surfaces, these surfaces quickly lose their spot-free finish due to the same factors that cause spotting (dirt, deposits of minerals which were present as dissolved solids in the water, and the like) when the surfaces are originally cleaned. There are a number of waxes and other products in the market for attempting to retain this spot-free finish. Typically, these products are designed to hydrophobically modify these surfaces so that rain water and tap water will bead up on such surfaces. However, it is believed that the beading of water on such surfaces may actually increase the formation of water spots since the beads of water will leave deposits on the surface when they dry.
Thus, there is a need to provide a process of cleaning a surface without the appearance of water-marks, even after the treated surface is later contacted with water.
The present invention relates to a system and method for cleaning and/or treating surfaces, preferably surfaces such as ceramic, steel, plastic, glass and/or painted surfaces such as the exterior surface of a vehicle.
In one non-limiting embodiment, the method comprises a method for cleaning and treating a surface of a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
(a) applying a cleaning solution to the surface of a vehicle;
(b) optionally contacting the surface of the vehicle with the cleaning solution thereon and agitating the cleaning solution to loosen dirt on the surface of the vehicle;
(c) rinsing the surface of the vehicle to remove at least some of the cleaning solution;
(d) at least partially removing any residue-forming substances remaining on the surface of the vehicle, if any residue-forming substances remain on the surface of the vehicle;
(e) applying a treating composition to the surface of the vehicle, said treating composition comprising an effective amount of non-photoactive nanoparticles and preferably a wetting agent; and
(f) allowing the treating composition to dry on the surface of the vehicle before the surface of the vehicle is contacted by water.
The present invention is not limited to methods for both cleaning and treating such surfaces. For instance, in another non-limiting example, the method can comprise only the steps of treating the surface, if desired. Treating the surface preferably results in the formation of a generally uniform, transparent, hydrophilic coating on the surface. Any portions of the method described herein may comprise inventions in their own right without regard to the other steps described herein. The present invention may also include a coating composition and a surface coated with such a coating composition.